Ricoh Caplio GX8

Ease of Use

The Ricoh Caplio GX8 is identical to the Caplio
GX that I have previously
reviewed in terms of its user interace, so all of the comments that I made about that model apply equally to the new GX8.

The Ricoh Caplio GX8 is a solidly built,
pocketable camera that instantly feels "right" as
soon as you pick it up and start using it for the first time.
As with the GX, I really enjoyed using the GX8 during the review period from a handling point of view and was quite
sad to have to send it back! It easily fits into a trouser
or coat pocket, yet doesn't have tiny controls that you can't
operate properly. For such a small and slim camera it actually
feels quite heavy, but I prefer this to a lighter camera that
feels more flimsy.

The Ricoh Caplio GX8 is an exceptionally easy to use digital
camera that will not put off new users, whilst being very
intuitive for anyone who has picked up a digital camera before.
Its secret lies in not being too different from other brands
on the market. The Caplio GX8's interface, both software and
the camera body, employs options and concepts that are an
accepted part of the photographic industry.

Having said that, the Caplio GX8 does have a couple of neat
touches of its own. The Adj. button on the rear of the camera
is a particularly nice feature that allows you to quickly
adjust 3 different settings that are commonly used. Press
it once and you can alter exposure compensation; press it
again and you can change the White Balance setting; press
it once more and you can adjust the ISO speed. The other thing
that I liked was the Power button. Unlike many digicams, the
Caplio GX8 has a dedicated button that lets you turn the camera
on and off, regardless of which setting (Play, Camera, A/M,
Scene, Movie, Voice, Setup) the camera is currently set to.
It's not the most radical feature in the world but a nice
addition nevertheless.

Adjustment / Menu / Delete/Timer / Display Buttons

Exposure Mode Dial

There is an important black dial next
to the shutter button, which allows you to control a variety
of settings that include aperture, white balance, ISO sensitivity
and exposure levels, and also scroll through the camera's
menu system. Ricoh have continued with the option of being
able to manually adjust the aperture and shutter-speed, which
will please more creative photographers who like to have full
control. The addition of the control dial has also resulted
in the addition of a sculpted handgrip, which makes the Ricoh
Caplio GX8 much more comfortable to hold than previous Ricoh
digital cameras.

It's not all good news, however, as Ricoh's implementation
doesn't quite allow "full" control. With the camera
set to A/M mode, you can choose to set the aperture and let
the camera work out the appropriate shutter-speed (aperture
priority), or set both the shutter-speed and the aperture
(full manual). You can't set the shutter-speed, however, and
and let the camera work out the appropriate aperture (shutter-speed),
which seems to be a major oversight for a camera that is geared
towards action with its fast start-up and operating times.

Also, you can set the aperture yourself, but there are only
actually 3 different values available at any time, which in
turn depend upon the focal length that you are using. For
example, at the wide-angle lens setting, you can choose from
f/2.5, f4.7 and f/8.1, and at the telephoto-angle lens setting,
you can choose from f/4.3, f8 and f/14. These are different
enough values to allow a variety of depth-of-field effects
in your photos, but maybe not quite different enough to allow
you to fine-tune those effects.

Up/Down Dial / Shutter Release Button

Arrow Pad / Quick Review Button / Flash Button / Macro Button

Ricoh's claims about the speed of the Caplio GX8 in terms
of starting up the camera and shutter-lag do seem to be accurate.
With other digicams you can often wait 4 or 5 seconds for
the camera to turn itself on, extend the lens and get ready
to take a shot. And you often miss the shot anyway because
the of the slow shutter lag. The Caplio GX8 seems to have solved
both these issues.

Both the camera body and its menu system are logically laid
out and the rear LCD screen is a good size. The optical viewfinder
isn't very usable, however, especially at the wide-angle setting,
as the lens is clearly visible in the bottom-left, therefore
making accurate composition more difficult. Also the viewfinder
is devoid of any markings or information of any kind - it
is completely blank and doesn't provide any feedback on the
picture-taking process. The most fiddly aspect of the camera's
design is the Card/Battery cover. The memory card and the
battery are both housed within one large cover on the right
of the camera, which is difficult to fully open and then close
again. This was an issue with the previous Caplio models and one
that I wish Ricoh had fixed by now.

In addition to the various N(normal) and F(fine) JPEG modes,
you can select NC (non- compression) mode for recording in
TIFF image format. Accroding to Ricoh, this is a flexible
format that preserves all picture data allowing for a 'digital
positive' as it represents a true image. Unfortunately, it's
also a format that locks up the camera for 15-20 seconds as
the TIFF file is recorded onto the memory card, which means
that this mode is only useful when you aren't in any particular
hurry. I resorted to using the highest-quality JPEG setting
instead.

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

So overall, the Caplio GX8's ease-of-use is a bit of a mixed
bag. It's commendable to see Ricoh adding more control over
the photo-taking process in terms of allowing you to control
apertures and shutter-speeds, but the way they have implemented
it seems to be something of a half-hearted attempt that doesn't
follow photographic convention. If you typically set your
camera to aperture-priority and forget about it (as I do),
then you will like the Caplio GX8 a lot more than if you usually
set your camera to shutter-speed priority. Even the implementation
of full manual is unintuitive. Full marks for Ricoh for the
intention, but only half-marks for the actual implementation.
Overall I really enjoyed
using the Caplio GX8, as is suited my particular way of working,
but action photographers should definitely try and test it
out before purchasing.

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Ricoh Caplio GX8 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.